These two Texas Democrats are outraising their GOP foes....

1of 3Democrats Justin Nelson and Kim Olson have outraised their Republican opponents in the last three months. Nelson is a candidate for state attorney general while Olson is running for agriculture commissioner.Photo: Contributed photo/Jon Shapley

AUSTIN — Two Democratic candidates for statewide office raised more money than their Republican opponents in the past three months as they make their final push to unseat the incumbents in November.

Kim Olson, who is running for agriculture commissioner, and Justin Nelson, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, both raised more money from July to October than their opponents. Olson brought in $130,000, five times more than GOP incumbent Sid Miller, who raised $24,000. Nelson raked in $1.1 million, compared to Ken Paxton’s $488,000.

In an election season when Democrats feel they have the momentum to beat out the GOP, some may view Nelson and Olson’s fundraising as another sign that the down-ballot candidates have a chance of becoming the first Texas Democrats in more than two decades to get elected to statewide office. But political experts say that’s unrealistic because the GOP candidates have much larger war chests and felt no need to raise large sums in the final months of their campaigns.

“It indicates that both Paxton and Miller feel very confident that simply having the ‘R’ next to their name will guarantee their victory in November,” said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones.

Statewide Republicans have raised 12 times more than Democrats since January 2017. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has brought in $38.3 million this election cycle, more than all of the statewide Democratic candidates combined. Lupe Valdez, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, has raised just over $1 million this election cycle.

“Her numbers are anemic to say the least,” Jones said of Valdez. “It’s evident that all Democratic efforts are focused on the races they think they have a chance of winning.”

Alejandra Matos is a politics and government reporter for the Houston Chronicle's Austin bureau. She previously covered local education for the Washington Post and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She is a graduate of American University in Washington D.C. and the University of Texas at El Paso.